BooksBarbecue
Back Truth of the Divine Save as PDF
Chapters (70)
  1. Also By Lindsay Ellis and Available From Titan Books
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Author’s Note
  7. Part 1: It’s A Fool Who Plays It Cool
  8. 1
  9. 2
  10. 3
  11. 4
  12. 5
  13. 6
  14. Part 2: Love Has A Nasty Habit Of Disappearing Overnight
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. 9
  18. 10
  19. 11
  20. 12
  21. 13
  22. 14
  23. 15
  24. 16
  25. 17
  26. 18
  27. 19
  28. 20
  29. 21
  30. 22
  31. 23
  32. 24
  33. 25
  34. Part 3: A Crowd Of People Stood And Stared
  35. 26
  36. 27
  37. 28
  38. 29
  39. 30
  40. 31
  41. 32
  42. 33
  43. 34
  44. 35
  45. 36
  46. 37
  47. 38
  48. 39
  49. 40
  50. 41
  51. 42
  52. 43
  53. 44
  54. 45
  55. 46
  56. Part 4: Happiness Is A Warm Gun
  57. 47
  58. 48
  59. 49
  60. 50
  61. 51
  62. 52
  63. 53
  64. 54
  65. 55
  66. 56
  67. 57
  68. A Fiction Agreed Upon
  69. Acknowledgments
  70. About the Author

From: Nils Ortega <[email protected]>

To: Alejandro Miranda Vasquez <[email protected]>

Subject: Re: Hot Seat interview

Jano,

You are truly one in a million.

Nils

23

Image

23

“When you said fromage, I thought it was going to be one of those artisanal cheese places.”

“What could possibly be more artisanal than this?” said Kaveh. “It’s a SoCal staple. Our contribution to civilization.”

The two looked up at the blinged-out ancient Egyptian edifice of the Cheesecake Factory at the Spectrum in Irvine, its signage emblazoned with red neon bulbs. A gilded monument to overpriced mediocre food, a confused mess of architecture and interior design that was equal parts sarcophagus and Mordor. A hideous calorieladen monument to man’s hubris. Kaveh kind of loved it. Tacky as it was, it had been his family’s’ “special occasion” restaurant when he was growing up, so he couldn’t help but have some nostalgia for it.

Cora agreed that it was quite mediocre to be so expensive, but he was glad she understood his sense of irony and went along with it, even if she hardly ate anything (again). When it came cheesecake time, Kaveh joked about the turgid aftertaste the food here tended to have (“What are you in the mood for: chocolate freezer burn or lemon raspberry cream freezer burn?”). They went for the mango key lime cheesecake. It tasted like freezer burn.

“I was half joking about the freezer burn,” he said. “I did not expect this to taste more like freezer burn than mango or key lime.”

“I guess you’re the Dr. Malcolm of this story,” she said, smiling her cute, awkward smile. “Boy, do you hate being right all the time.” She took another tiny bite. “Thank you, by the way, for all of this.”

He smiled, admiring how the soft Eye of Sauron light flattered her hair, her features. Was this a date? He hadn’t really meant for it to be, but it had the feel of one. He’d been debating for a little while if it would be appropriate to invite her back to his place later. It was obvious she was attracted to him, but it was the kind of attraction that she herself might not yet have consciously acknowledged.

“Of course. You did good today. Although, I wonder what our . . . friend will think once he finds out about the interview.”

“Oh . . .” Her cute smile fell. “I don’t think he’ll care. The goings-on of the human world don’t much interest him.”

Having now plied her with cheesecake, he figured now was as good a time as any to inquire about some topics that had been weighing on him. “Can I ask maybe a sensitive question?”

She nodded, face falling as if to say, Oh no, what now?